Customer Reviews

Just Wait Till You Have Children of Your Own!

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If you like funny stories that ring true about being a parent, Erma Bombeck's the writer for you. If you want hysterical drawings of teenagers, Bil Keane is your cartoonist. They create a championship team of angst-relieving humorists for parents waiting up until 4 a.m. for the teenager who was supposed to be home at 10:30 p.m., and cannot be located.

The book was originally written about 25 years ago, so you will occasionally need to go back in time to understand the humor. The hair stories are all like that. Suffice to say, female and male teenagers wore very long hair then. It was often difficult to tell to which sex a person belonged. The humorous possibilities of this are wonderful, and well exploited.

I had the opportunity to meet Ms. Bombeck many years ago, and found her to be as self-effacing and interesting in person as her writing shows her to be. Much humor in books is aimed at putting down someone else. But Ms. Bombeck mixes lots of love with her humor, and the humor is often aimed at herself and other adults. That's what makes this book and its humor so heart-warming, even though she and Mr. Keane share eloquently about the frustrations of being a parent (especially a Mom).

If you are not familiar with her humor, it has a lot in common with slapstick. She takes an ordinary situation that often will not run smoothly (like teaching one's child to drive) and piles every single thing that ever goes wrong into one, nonstop, fast-paced incident. As disaster after disaster occurs, you find yourself overloaded with emotional discharges that can only be relieved by a good belly laugh. Think of it as an innoculation against frustration when a less challenging incident occurs.

The topics covered are pretty encyclopedic. You will learn about selective memory (forgetting to do chores, but remembering what one received at a certain age if a sibling gets more), driving lessons (how the other parent undermines the more cautious one), the futility of trying to keep up with swiftly changing styles (even the Mom who tries to keep up cannot, because she doesn't know how the styles changed during that day at school), how the telephone disappears until the teenagers leave the house, teenagers' fear of being embarrassed by their parents, the agonies of family vacations, the fall of parental intelligence as the teenagers get older (in the eyes of the children), loud music, money, proms, braces, boy or girl friends, worrying, and arguments.

Ms. Bombeck had three children, and uses them as her source of material. What she does especially well is capture the busyness of being a parent. When a special opportunity to make a connection comes along, it always seems like there are 6 other things that have to be done simultaneously. Her indirect message is to get rid of the busyness and focus on the connections on those rare occasions when they arise. I heartily agree with that.

The chapters are done in an amusing point-counterpoint style. The point is to quote some famous authority on parenting at the beginning of the chapter (many of whom were childless) who describes what parents should be doing. Then Ms. Bombeck describes the reality of what parents are up against as the counterpoint. Then she humorously wrings her hands over the futility of following the advice. This style works very well. Following the counterpoint perspective will also help free you from trying to follow impossibly high standards that will only drive you crazy.

But, at bottom (despite the sarcastic remarks), this is a loving book. Ms. Bombeck and Mr. Keane have lots of love for the teenagers and the parents. It's that love that makes the humor work, and makes this book add up to the following advice: Love 'em and enjoy 'em as teenagers . . . just the way they are.

After you finish laughing along with this book, go do something nice for a teenager. Then give yourself a good feeling for doing that. And repeat the process. The more you do it, the better you'll enjoy it.

And don't tell them: Just wait until you have children of your own. It doesn't work as a threat. Feel free to shout that imprecation though to the top of your lungs when they are temporarily out of the house. It'll make you feel great!

Keep smiling and laughing. It's the only relief . . . until they finally outgrow being teenagers!

There are books to take to the beach, and there are books to snuggle up with on a cold winter night. I think this Keane/Bombeck effort is a rainy-day book, the kind of day you wonder whether or not you should have sent the kids to school with rain slickers. Oh and make sure you've got a good cup of coffee and a doughnut when you're reading this book. Or maybe wheat toast.

Honestly, darlinks, I just love this book. Famed columnist Erma Bombeck teamed up with "Family Circus"'s Bil Keane to create an unusual and enjoyable book.

Both of them write/draw columns/cartoons that talk about raising teenagers in the 70s (when this was originally published, I think) Keane's cartoons are not "Family Circus" in later years, but instead are sometimes-surreal glimpses of seventies parents and kids, such as the girl who has what appears to be a palm-tree-like growth of hair on her head, or the boy carrying a restaurant's worth of food to his room.

Ms. Bombeck covers adolescent embarrassment, sex talks with parents, haircuts of the time, and so on. Her columns are funny, witty, and most of all, ACCURATE--especially with Keane's cute cartoons. Too bad it's such a short book--I could read this stuff forever.

I am however used to digesting my Keane in smaller doses that is to say less words and more pictures. But I did find Ms. Bombeck's observations to be right in line with Keanes vis a vis the way kids are these days, what with their hijinks and antics. Maybe they can do another collaborative effort together only with more pictures this time. And maybe Ms. Bombeck can let us know what Grandpa is up to!

I did not buy this book on Amazon,but recieved it(or rather just took) from my Grandparents home.Its as old as I am,I am 25,and even though alot has changed,kids don't say 'rapping' anymore to define late night talking,and no more Hippy locks,but seriously,it is still one of the funniest books you will ever read in your life! I've read it at school,work,and constantly get asked,'Just what in the world is so funny?!" And I've had this book(actually,pages,since it has completely fallen apart from numerous years of wear and tear and many moves) since '96,when I was 11 years old,and without fail,it is still so funny and relevent.The end still makes me tear up,when they are going over how they wish kids would grow up,then you look around your empty nest home,straightening up things that are not messy for once,and realize your kids do grow up and will leave.I feel emotional thinking about that now! All these years later,lol. I just had to write a little review for one of my most fav books,and I would recommend it to anyone,kids,no kids,we all need a great dose of love and laughter in this life.God Bless Erma and Bill for this Gem! And I will be ordering another copy,before the winds blow my beloved pages away,lol.

Although I'm generally a fan of Erma, I remember not thinking this book was so funny when my mom had it and I was a teenager. Fortunately, I got over that phase and reached the point where I can at least chuckle at most of it again. This book is very similar to other writings and TV shows in the 1970s time frame that dealt with the so-called "generation gap" - the two that come to my mind are the old animated TV series "Wait Till Your Father Gets Home" and some episodes of "All in the Family". Because the book was written in the late 60s/ early 70s, some of the jokes, such as those dealing with transistor radios and hair length, seem dated today. One wishes Erma had updated the book to deal with newer styles - can you imagine the fun she would have had commenting on neon-pink Mohawks and iPods? It's still a fun read especially for those of us who remember the 70s.

Bil Keane's drawings are an interesting addition, since they're not nearly as sappy sweet as his "Family Circus" strip - and who'd have thunk squeaky-clean Bil would be so good at drawing sexy teenage girls in miniskirts?

Yes, maybe this book is a little dated, but overall teenagers from the 70's are not much different from teens of today attitude and all!
My daughter is 15 and this book had me thinking "That sounds familiar" many times.
I especially loved the segment about the teen who spends all his time in his room and the parents never saw the kid and forgot what he looked like....reminded me of my daughter who spends most of her time in her room!

This book is wonderful for parents of teenagers....it brings a light to the joys and struggles of parenting someone with so MANY hormonal changes going through them.....Loved it!

Erma Bombeck is great! If you have children, or even if your children are grown and gone like mine, you will still get chuckles and remember when!

For anyone is a parent of a teenager, or anyone who is interested in reading more about that complex, and turbulent dynamic, this book is for you. I first read this book when I was eleven years old, and it just got me reading and enjoying more of Erma Bombeck's unique and broad brand of humor. To top that off, the little comic interludes, illustrating themes and common day-to-day interactions between parents and children, are drawn beautifully by Bil Keane, who went on to illustrate the successful comic strip, "Family Circus," for years.

Whether Erma Bombeck is taking on housekeeping, driving lessons, or hairstyles, she is guaranteed to make you laugh out loud. Granted, this book was originally written in the 1970s and there is a slightly dated hippie quality to the look of the teenagers in this book, the themes ring true today, as much as thirty years ago. Parents and their teenage children speak different languages, diverge greatly in their tastes in music, friends, romantic partners and lifestyle. Yet, God has put them together, to teach one another lessons in adversity, communication (or lack thereof) and exasperation!

Bombeck's talent shines brightly here. I also reccomend you check out "Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession," "The Grass is Greener Over the Septic Tank," "If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, What am I Doing in the Pits?", and "When You Begin to Look Like Your Passport Photo, It's Time to Go Home." They are also great examples of her comedic writing, and warm insight into life and its day-to-day mini-disasters!